The former pitching coach for the Royals and Red Sox was in Stewart, Fla., just three hours from Clearwater, spending time chasing his 2-year-old twin sons around the house and longing to fish, his favorite pastime outside of baseball.

“I was excited about doing what I was going to do,” McClure said, “and I was even more excited when Ruben called me.”

That would be Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. The team’s decision to not renew Rich Dubee’s contract created a vacancy at pitching coach. McClure asked his contacts in baseball about the organization, and from there, he said, he was sold.

“I like to teach,” said McClure, 61. “I like to help, if possible. I was excited about it.”

McClure draws from 19 seasons as a big-league pitcher. He went 12-7 for the 1982 Brewers, who lost in the World Series to St. Louis.

Now here he is, replacing a man who was pitching coach in Philadelphia for nine seasons, seasons in which the Phillies won a World Series, two National League titles and five NL East division titles.

McClure last coaching job — in Boston — came in 2012, a disastrous season for the Red Sox and the only one at the helm for manager Bobby Valentine. McClure was fired in August and reportedly clashed with Valentine throughout the season.

“I don’t even want to go there, to tell you the truth,” McClure said with a laugh Friday.

In Philadelphia, McClure inherits an interesting situation. He has a solid top of the rotation of Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and reportedly A.J. Burnett, with little encouraging talent after that. He also inherits a promising but unproven bullpen.

McClure is confident, however, in his young relievers, specifically Jake Diekman. Diekman is the hard-throwing lefty whose biggest knock is control, something the new coaching staff is harping on this spring.

Amaro signed Adams before the 2013 season to be his eighth-inning guy. But Adams struggled with health issues and had season-ending shoulder surgery in August. Some feared he could miss a large portion of this season.

Sandberg said Friday that Adams will be pitching off a mound by the end of the month.

“That’s still kind of the target area,” Sandberg said. “Somewhere in the last week of February, when he builds to it.”

• Extra innings:

Both Marlon Byrd and Domonic Brown reported to camp Friday, three days before the mandatory date for position players. Jimmy Rollins is the only notable player still missing. ... De Fratus, who wore No. 79 the past two seasons, has switched to No. 30, formerly owned by Dubee.